Month: July 2007

The Funeral

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Yesterday a senior AOL teacher dropped into the Institution where I do my seva and was reviewing the activities of the past week. One amongst us kept on harping on “I cant” do this because of this…. I cant do this because of that. He then gave a gem of a statement – Dont focus on Why you Cant – direct your attention to “What you Could”. Be Enterprising so that you dont see the hurdles, obstacles in the path. When you are enterprising you would be in a position to convert Potential into Possibilities. Otherwise we would be stuck in a rut, trying to justify our failures and incapabilities.

And Lo!!! I find a great story on this subject in my mail box early this morning. It is a pretty long drawn one, I am sure it is intentional on the part of the author (so that we dont say “I can’t” find to read through the whole thing…ha ha ha) but I assure you that it is worth the read.

My Humble pranaams and gratitude to all the Masters and Teachers on the occasion of Guru Poornima – for making this life meaningful and fulfilling!

And the irony of my life, on the happy occasion of my better half’s appearance day, I had to blog about funeral  (no way, this is inauspicious)

Loads of love
Suresh

Funeral of the “I Can’t”

Donna’s fourth grade classroom looked like many others I had seen in the past. The teacher’s desk was in front and faced the students. The bulletin board featured student work. In most respects it appeared to be a typically traditional elementary classroom. Yet something seemed different that day I entered it for the first time.

My job was to make classroom visitations and encourage implementation of a training program that focused on language arts ideas that would empower students to feel good about themselves and take charge of their lives. Donna was one of the volunteer teachers who participated in this project.

I took an empty seat in the back of the room and watched. All the students were working on a task, filling a sheet of notebook paper with thoughts and ideas. The ten-year-old student next to me was filling her page with “I Can’ts”. “I can’t kick the soccer ball past second base.” “I can’t do long division with more than three numerals.” “I can’t get Debbie to like me.” Her page was half full and she showed no signs of letting up. She worked on with determination and persistence. I walked down the row glancing at student’s papers. Everyone was writing sentences, describing things they couldn’t do.

By this time the activity engaged my curiosity, so I decided to check with the teacher to see what was going on but I noticed she too was busy writing. I felt it best not to interrupt. “I can’t get John’s mother to come for a teacher conference.” “I can’t get my daughter to put gas in the car.” “I can’t get Alan to use words instead of fists.”

Thwarted in my efforts to determine why students and teacher were dwelling on the negative instead of writing the more positive “I Can” statements, I returned to my seat and continued my observations.

Students wrote for another ten minutes. They were then instructed to fold the papers in half and bring them to the front. They placed their “I Can’t” statements into an empty shoe box. Then Donna added hers. She put the lid on the box, tucked it under her arm and headed out the door and down the hall.

Students followed the teacher. I followed the students. Halfway down the hallway Donna entered the custodian’s room, rummaged around and came out with a shovel. Shovel in one hand, shoe box in the other, Donna marched the students out to the school to the farthest corner of the playground. There they began to dig. They were going to bury their “I Can’ts”!

The digging took over ten minutes because most of the fourth graders wanted a turn. The box of “I Can’ts” was placed in a position at the bottom of the hole and then quickly covered with dirt. Thirty-one 10 and 11 year-olds stood around the freshly dug grave site. At this point Donna announced, “Boys and girls, please join hands and bow your heads.” They quickly formed a circle around the grave, creating a bond with their hands.

They lowered their heads and waited. Donna delivered the eulogy.

“Friends, we gathered here today to honor the memory of ‘I Can’t.’ While he was with us here on earth, he touched the lives of everyone, some more than others. We have provided ‘I Can’t’ with a final resting place and a headstone that contains his epitaph. His is survived by his brothers and sisters, ‘I Can’, ‘I Will’, and ‘I’m Going to Right Away’. They are not as well known as their famous relative and are certainly not as strong and powerful yet. Perhaps some day, with your help, they will make an even bigger mark on the world. May ‘I Can’t’ rest in peace and may everyone present pick up their lives and move forward in his absence. Amen.”

As I listened I realized that these students would never forget this day. Writing “I Can’ts”, burying them and hearing the eulogy. That was a major effort on this part of the teacher. And she wasn’t done yet.

She turned the students around, marched them back into the classroom and held a wake. They celebrated the passing of “I Can’t” with cookies, popcorn and fruit juices. As part of the celebration, Donna cut a large tombstone from butcher paper. She wrote the words “I Can’t” at the top and put RIP in the middle. The date was added at the bottom. The paper tombstone hung in Donna’s classroom for the remainder of the year.

On those rare occasions when a student forgot and said, “I Can’t”, Donna simply pointed to the RIP sign. The student then remembered that “I Can’t” was dead and chose to rephrase the statement. I wasn’t one of Donna’s students. She was one of mine. Yet that day I learned an enduring lesson from her as years later, I still envision that fourth grade class laying to rest, “I Can’t”.

Kangaroo courts and Kangaroo Brains

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Yeah! a sequel was unavoidable to my earlier story. Going by the way things are turning out, expect atleast another sequel. As suspected earlier, it turned out to be damp squib. Hey, would the aussies (non usage of capital letter for this proper noun is deliberate) treated an american citizen this way. Brand a doctor a terrorist aid, then cancel the visa, give him criminal justice certificate and when they realize that they f***ed up the whole case and the poor man’s life (include his family too), think of deporting. This is pits…. and Indian Government still sits here twiddling its thumb when its citizenry and the nation is being insulted. How I wish the so called politician rats of this great Nation haul the aussies over the coals (or colas – both are equivalent) and make them pay a very high diplomatic price.

When the truth started coming out, the next best recourse, deport the poor guy. Why? because the most intelligent aussie decided not to even borrow the brains of their national animal, Kangaroo (sorry Kangaroo – had to brand you with aussie – some karmic bonding this). Coincidentally, there is a parallel justic delivery system – the Kangaroo courts (considered very inhuman and primitive and in fact illegal in India). I now know why and where the terminology originated .

The most surprising and conspicuous actor made the presence felt by staying aloof from the whole episode – Indian Media!!! They were busy shooting Aishwarya Rai’s shoes, Rakhi Sawant’s Smooch. Or was this not sensational enough? or was Haneef or Sabeel as Indians not important enough. Did the descendants of exiled criminals (read aussies) buy you off? The more I look at the ways things are happening, more convinced I am about our media being under the control of some western religious organization. So much for the responsible journalism in this nation. Fourth Estate is nowhere on Planet earth forget in any estate. Congratulations! your sense of responsibility is worth emulating. Truth can go to hell!!! Injustice can reign in this world. What they did was to try and boost their TRP by hounding the poor parents into their living and bed rooms. I happen to witness the camping mediamen (and media women too) outside the homes of the parents of the “doctors of death” (this title would soon be withdrawn to be re-conferred on the aussie Immigration Minister). The person with Alzhemiers (father of one of the accused apparently suffers from this) seemed to be more sensible with his thought process than these so called intelligentsia in the media – Mayas, Barkhas, Rajdeeps and other such worms included. Another thing to note is the hyprocrisy in reporting language. I havent read a single report calling them Muslim Doctors or Muslim Engineers. They are India Doctors or Indian Engineers. I am proud they did that not identify them with their religion. Why cant they do the same when they report about the Hindus of this country? Traditions followed in various places of religious significance are never referred to as Indian tradition, they condemn them as ancient Hindu tradition . Clowns!!! In the eyes and words of this secular media (paid by their Western Masters to do so anyway) Muslims are Indian and Hindus are Hindus . Well I am proud of that too!!! In fact more proud. For this great nation the biggest curse is their politicians and very closely competing with them is the MEDIA. Keep up….we are cheering you on. May the better rat win… Citizens of this nation are combating the situation of, Heads you win, Tails I lose.

Wait, I soon expect to write another sequel to this sordid drama. This one from UK. Waiting for elementary discovery from the land of Sherlock Holmes. Only it was a case for Dr. Haneef / Dr. Sabeel not Dr. Watson.

Long live India!!! Live longer Indian Media  Live Longest Indian Politicians While we citizens rot in the foreign prisons in solitary confinement

Grace of spirituality

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The most difficult things appear and sound difficult when they are removed from experience. But when it comes to oneself, the most difficult things look simple. When you read scriptures about Samadhi it appears very difficult. But I tell you, every individual experiences glimpses of Samadhi in life and that is why there is joy. Unfortunately, we don’t pinpoint or identify it and we don’t know how to maintain, retain it or recreate it.

Patanjali gives us a scientific step by step methodology of recreating this experience. It is not experience of the object but experience of the experiencer which is the self referral value of our own inner divinity.

Let us once again go through the four types of Samadhi which Patanjali Maharishi has mentioned. They are Savitarka Samadhi, Nirvitarka Samadhi, Savichara Samadhi and Nirvichara Samadhi.

Savitarka Samadhi is the Samadhi in which there is a dialogue or argument in one part of consciousness with the other part of the same consciousness. Here, there is a dialogue happening between the knower, known and knowing, meaning a dialogue with logical subtle reasoning happening within oneself.

Nirvitarka Samadhi is the one which has no dialogue where there is no reasoning.
Savichara Samadhi is the Samadhi in which there is some knowledge flowing. In this state of deep Samadhi some faint thoughts move through.

Nirvichara Samadhi is the one where there is no thought .This is a thoughtless state which is the experience of nothingness or just emptiness.

Now comes the question — why did Patanjali Maharishi make this distinction considering a dialogue cannot happen without words? This is due to reasoning where there is a little logic flowing through and you are trying to grasp something. Logic always has a tendency to grasp. Even in Samadhi there could be a slight tendency to grasp the experience and that is called Savitarka Samadhi, which is not a very deep Samadhi. In Nirvitarka Samadhi that desire to grasp is not there.

Our consciousness is much older than the stones. Our consciousness has impressions of so many life times. So, when we go deep in Samadhi, some faint thoughts or ideas that have no logic may arise. Just like in dreams you get thoughts and ideas which have no logic. Your experiences in dreams have no logic. Sometimes you don’t even need to have a language to understand the Vichara. It is just a feeling. A subtle or faint feeling arises and that is called Savichara and when there is no feeling or no trace of faint thought, it is Nirvichara Samadhi. These two samadhis take you deeper because they continue to exist in the subtlest levels of the consciousness.

For logic to come across, you need an object. If the mind has to understand or to reason, it needs an object. In fact it needs not just one object but many objects. But if the subject itself is the object it becomes self referral and that is called Nirvitarka Samadhi. In this state there is no dialogue where just the seer is left. But in this Samadhi there is subtle understanding about very subtle things. These subtle objects continue even to the primordial nature of the universe where you cannot even point your finger and say “this is this”. It takes you towards a realm of unknown beyond the logic. Subtle objects of perception continue even beyond identifications. That means it is the journey from the known to unknown. These four kinds of Samadhi can be only understood when we go deep into experience.

Many people experience things in meditation but they don’t know what to make of it. That is where Patanjali’s beautiful guidance becomes very valuable. Five different experiences of the senses — sight, smell, sound, taste and touch — these five modes of experience continue at a very subtle primordial nature. Though there is no object of touch, when you go deep in Samadhi, you can feel some sensations of touch, you can hear some sound or you can see some light. Though there is no thought, the experience is also considered as thought and these experiences continue till there is “shoonyatha” or nothingness.

So, in meditation don’t sit and wait for something. When you experience these things, do not try to hold on to it. This is what he mentions as “Sabeeja Samadhi”.

When you are experiencing bliss or a vastness of consciousness, there can be traces of sound or light or touch or fragrance. This is a common phenomenon when people get into meditation. From this, Sabeeja Samadhi we skilfully go to the Nirbeeja Samadhi where there is no duality. The purpose of Samadhi is not just Samadhi itself but “adhyatma prasada”, which means spiritual awakening or spiritual grace. Samadhi is one of the means to attain the grace of spirituality.